From a contested Past to an Uncertain Present: Agency Nurses' Experiences of Work in the Private Healthcare System- A South African Analysis

Abstract

Work as we know it consumes so much of our day-to-day lives; we need work to better our living standards and contribute to the economy in which we live. However, issues surrounding the current and future realities of work are growing in debate as both scholars and academics attempt to address the growing issues of work. This paper focuses on the issues of work in the nursing sector. Particular focus is put on agency nurses’ experiences of work in private hospitals. The current structure of work has taken a liking to casualisation and outsourcing of the labour force. This labour restructuring has increased job insecurity and precarity, especially in the nursing sector. With the rise of privatisation and the adoption of neoliberal policies, nurses find themselves assuming non-standard roles in the hospital sector, such as agency work. The study traces the history of the nursing sector and how it has come to weigh heavily on the current nursing profession. This paper aims to magnify the increasing interaction between agency nurses, nursing agencies and private hospitals and how this causes a triangular employment relationship known as the three-way system. This study also aims to understand how nurses navigate, attempt to negotiate, and mediate their experiences of work in the three-way system. The study analyses the private hospital industry through the lens of the panopticon that enforces power, domination, and control to create a docile labour force that finds it difficult to negotiate for better experiences of work.